Rotation schedule

[mercaptovizadeh]

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If I'm interested in internal medicine as a residency choice (possibly and/or with pediatrics), what rotation order do you suggest I choose? Where should I put ob/gyn, surgery, outpatient/ambulatory type rotations, family medicine, etc. I would think it would be a good idea to have some practice in the system before doing IM but also not do it too late.

Should IM be near the end or the middle?

 

[Phyozo]

If I'm interested in internal medicine as a residency choice (possibly and/or with pediatrics), what rotation order do you suggest I choose? Where should I put ob/gyn, surgery, outpatient/ambulatory type rotations, family medicine, etc. I would think it would be a good idea to have some practice in the system before doing IM but also not do it too late.

Should IM be near the end or the middle?

You'll hear a different things from different people depending on who you ask. Some say it's best to do it near the middle after you've had some exposure to the hospital and before you become burned out towards the end. Keep in mind that if you do this, you'll be competing with other gunners who want to go into medicine and think doing medicine in the middle is a good idea.

Personally, I did it first block and found it advantageous as my energy wore off as the year progressed and learning medicine well right off the bat made other rotations (and their shelf exams) a lot easier (except surgery...what a crapshoot that was). Bottom line is that there's no right answer. Whenever you do it, work hard and nail the shelf.

 

[IMdocT]

i agree, no right answer. there are advantages and disadvantages to every choice.

early:
+get it out of the way, see if you really like IM or not, if not then you can plan your electives and fourth year rotations better to search for the specialty you want, less tired from core rotations, fewer expectations from people writing your evals, IM skills and knowledge can be applicable to most of other rotations
-less clinical experience so may not be doing your best, less experience with shelf exams, interns are just starting and interns just got promoted to seniors so teams can be a little disorganized and may not be teaching you as well as possible

late:
+more clinical experience built up, more experience on what to expect on shelf exam, interns/residents may be a little better at teaching
-more expections of you, maybe you are grumpy at the end of the year, less time to plan ahead if you decide "no" to IM

middle: kind of in between, and i, too, have also heard the impression that many people who are competing for IM choose the middle and try to appear the best student on the team as possible

whatever you choose, if you want to be competitive for IM, getting a good eval, good shelf score, and finding an attending to write a LOR should be your goals with regards to your application during the rotation, well, the goals for whatever specialty you're looking into.

 

[fuzzywuz]

I did it first. No regrets. In fact, it lays the foundation for a lot of stuff. As for the shelf, if you study hard, it's very doable as a first shelf. Also, rumor has it that the curve is friendlier.